But their smiles belie the fear they had before the start of their trip.

"It was my fear of not having any way off the boat," said Kathy, after the couple received an emergency message on the night before departure.

It was from Carnival Cruise Lines. The cruise ship Triumph did not have enough power or speed to make it to both of its scheduled ports.

Though the Whites made it home safely, just 4 days later an engine fire crippled the Triumph, stranding 4,200 passengers at sea with limited power and sanitation.

"I think about it all the time. We could be the ones out there," said Dan White. "It could have been prevented. They should have cancelled it and not taken people out there. Because they knew it was broke," he said.

Travel experts suggest you do some research before your trip. The Triumph is one of Carnival's oldest ships.

While maintenance is more important than a vessel's age - profiles of every cruise ship, along with incident reports, and health inspections can be found on websites like, www.CruiseJunkie.com and www.CruiseCritic.com.